Genuine Lies

hissing through her teeth as the chill air hit her wet skin. And she felt wonderful. Laughing to herself, rubbing her arms, she started to haul herself from the water, starting when a towel landed on her head.
    “Dry off,” Eve suggested. She was sitting at the round table on the tiled apron. A bottle and two glasses stood in front of her. In her hand was a fat white geranium she’d plucked from her own beds. “And let’s have a drink.”
    Automatically Julia scrubbed the towel over her hair. “I didn’t hear you come out.”
    “You were busy shooting for the Olympic record.” She passed the geranium under her nose before laying it aside. “Haven’t you ever heard of a leisurely swim?”
    With a grin, Julia straightened up and reached for her robe. “I was on the swim team in high school. I always did the last leg of the relays. And I always won.”
    “Ah, competitive.” Eve’s eyes glittered approval as she poured two glasses of champagne. “Let’s drink to the victor.”
    Julia sat, accepted the glass. “Do we have one yet?”
    This brought a rich burst of laughter. “Oh, I like you, Julia.”
    Mellowed, Julia touched her glass to Eve’s. “I like you too.”
    There was a pause while Eve lit a cigarette. “So, tell me.” She blew out smoke that vanished into the dark. “What brings you out for a not so leisurely swim?”
    Julia thought about the note, then dismissed it. The mood here was much too easy to spoil. And, if she were honest, ithadn’t been only the note that had sent her out. It had been loneliness, the crushing weight of an empty house.
    “The house was too quiet. Brandon went out for the evening.”
    Eve smiled as she lifted the glass to them. “So I heard. I ran into your young son yesterday on the tennis courts. He has the makings of an excellent serve.”
    “You … you played tennis with Brandon?”
    “Oh, very impromptu,” Eve said, and crossed her bare feet at the ankles. “And I much preferred his company to the machine that shoots tennis balls at me like fuzzy cannonballs. In any case, he told me that the men were having a night out at the big game. You needn’t worry,” she added. “Paul may be a bit reckless from time to time, but he won’t let the boy get drunk and pick up women.”
    Julia might have laughed if she hadn’t felt so transparent. “I’m not used to him being out at night. That is, sleepovers at a friend’s and that sort of thing, but …”
    “But not him being out with a man.” She tapped her cigarette in an ashtray fashioned like a swan. “Were you hurt very badly?”
    Julia stopped brooding into her drink and straightened her shoulders. “No.”
    Eve merely arched a brow. “When a woman has told as many lies as I have, she recognizes one easily. Don’t you feel it’s destructive to pretend?”
    After a moment Julia drank deeply. “I feel it’s constructive to forget.”
    “If you can. But you live with a reminder every day.”
    Very deliberately Julia refilled her glass, topped off Eve’s. “Brandon doesn’t remind me of his father.”
    “He’s a beautiful child. I envy you.”
    The annoyance Julia had started to build faded. “You know, I believe you do.”
    “Oh, I do.” She rose quickly and began to shed the emerald lounging pajamas, dropping the silk carelessly to the tiles. “I’m going for a quick dip.” Naked, her milk-white flesh glowing in the starlight, she crushed out the cigarette. “Be adarling, Julia, and fetch me a robe out of the bath house.” With this, she dove headfirst into the dark water.
    Amused, intrigued, Julia obeyed, choosing a long thick robe of navy velour. She offered it, and a matching towel, to Eve as the woman stepped back out of the pool, shaking herself like a dog—one with a top pedigree.
    “Christ, there’s nothing like swimming naked under the stars.” Chilled and invigorated, she slipped her arms into the robe. “Unless it’s swimming naked under the stars with a man.”
    “Sorry I don’t qualify.”
    With a long and pleased sigh, Eve sunk into her chair, lifted her glass. “Ah, to men, Julia. Believe me, some of them are almost worth it.”
    “Worth something,” Julia agreed.
    “Why didn’t you ever name Brandon’s father?”
    It was a sneak attack, Julia thought, but found herself more weary than annoyed. “I didn’t do that to protect Brandon’s father. He wasn’t worthy of loyalty or protection. My parents were.”
    “And you loved them very